Abstract
The electron diffusion coefficient at varying porosity has been determined in a series of nanostructured Ti O2 films of different initial thicknesses. The porosity was changed by applying different pressures prior to sintering, thereby modifying the internal morphology of the films though not their chemical and surface conditions. A systematic increase of the effective diffusion coefficient was observed as the porosity was decreased, indicating the improvement of the internal connectivity of the network of nanoparticles. The experimental results have been rationalized using percolation theory. First of all, applying a power law dependence, the diffusion coefficient as a function of porosity from different films collapsed in a single master curve. In addition, application of the models of effective medium approximation (EMA) allows us to compare the experimental results with previous data from Monte Carlo simulation. The different data show a similar dependence in agreement with the EMA predictions, indicating that the geometrical effect of electron transport due to variation of porous morphology in Ti O2 nanoparticulate networks is well described by the percolation concept.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 064703 |
Journal | Journal of Chemical Physics |
Volume | 128 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 14 Feb 2008 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The work was supported by Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia of Spain under Project Nos. MAT2007-62982 and HOPE CSD2007-00007 (Consolider-Ingenio 2010) (J.B.) and the Israeli Ministry of Science (the BIU group).
Funding
The work was supported by Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia of Spain under Project Nos. MAT2007-62982 and HOPE CSD2007-00007 (Consolider-Ingenio 2010) (J.B.) and the Israeli Ministry of Science (the BIU group).
Funders | Funder number |
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Israeli Ministry of Science | |
Ministerio de Educación Superior, Ciencia y Tecnología, República Dominicana | HOPE CSD2007-00007, MAT2007-62982 |